When You Snooze, You Lose
We spend about a third of our life sleeping, yet little is known about this essential bodily function. What does sleep do, why do we need it, and what happens with too little or too much of it? While we are still not entirely sure why we need to sleep or what exactly it does to our bodies, a lot of research points to the perils of not getting enough, including the connection between sleep and weight loss.
The Consequences
While a small handful of people can function on as little as three hours of sleep, almost every adult requires eight hours. The average American now sleeps between six and seven hours a night – the sorts of levels which may lead to irritability, hypertension, memory lapses, and even heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
The news gets even worse for those of us battling our weight.
A number of studies have shown that sleep deprived adults that get less than six hours of sleep a night gain weight, on average. The nightly sleep goal goes up to seven hours a night for the large number of us who are under stress. The correlation is due to factors we’ve previously discussed, the disruption of essential hormones like ghrelin, insulin, leptin, and cortisol, which affect our appetite and the mechanisms responsible for storing abdominal fat.
A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine studied two sets of people in tightly controlled environments that were trying to lose weight. One set logged 5.5 hours of sleep each night while the other logged 8.5 hours a night. While both groups lost weight, the group that slept longer lost more fat, while the one that slept less lost more muscle.
Calorie Count Users
Interestingly, we are able to compare some of these findings with average data collected from Calorie Count’s 2+ million member database.
Unsurprisingly, the average CC user sleeps 6.8 hours each night – right within the range for standard Americans.
Grouping users together by number of hours slept also reveals that CC users that sleep less, on average, lose a lower percentage of body weight and have higher BMIs. For example, users that sleep 7 hours a night have an average BMI that is 2% higher than those that sleep 8 hours a night, users that sleep 6 hours a night have an average BMI that is 3% higher than those that sleep 7 hours a night, and on and on.
These findings are similar to those from dozens of scientific studies; that is, the less you sleep the more likely you are to put on weight and the harder it is to take that weight off.
Your thoughts…
How many hours of sleep do you get? Do you notice a connection between lack of sleep and weight gain?
Calorie Count co-founder Erik Fantasia and his girlfriend, Heather Curtis, are currently traveling through South America as part of a trip around the world. You can follow their adventures online with Facebook and their blog.
Comments
I am lucky to sleep a straight 8 hours a night on a regular basis. I don't think it affects my weight, I have as much trouble loosing as everyone else.
No wonder post-baby weight is hard to lose, then. I kept track of my sleep after my daughter was born, and it averaged 5 hours a night for 3 MONTHS. That's 5 hours when all the broken bits of sleep are added together, of course. lol.
Now I have a 1yo, 2yo and 3yo, I tend to stay up late to make the most of the Quiet Hours. But losing weight is a huge struggle. I think sleep will have to be a goal for this year.
As much as that's possible.
Im having trouble sleeping. Falling asleep and staying asleep...running on three hours today
I don't really chime in on too many of these articles (although I always read them), but I felt that I should add my two cents today.
I'm starting to think that this may one of the "unkown" reasons I've not been able to lose weight! People talk about a "plateau," and what have you, but I'm pretty sure there's something wrong when this so-called plateau has been going on for 3.5 years. No joke.
My diet is impeccable (all whole foods, good carbs, good fat, protein, etc), my exercise regime would blow half of my fellow gymrats out of the water, and I'm relatively healthy otherwise. After having seen 4 nutritionists/dieticians, 3 personal trainers, 1 IFBB pro, and countless numbers of docs (endocrine, gastro, gyno, etc)...we've all come to the same conclusion: There is no scientific reason for disability to lose weight (especially for the amount of work I put into it).
While everyone is still trying to help me out, I'm sort of on my own again, tring to figure out what in the world is wrong with my body! THIS may be one of the answers.
I'm totally going to try to get a little more than 6 hours of shut eye...and who knows? Maybe this will do the trick! (And positive thinking, of course 
)
Wow - sorry that was so long! lol.
I usually sleep 7-8 hours per night. I will try harder to make it 8 more often... but I agree with the first poster, the earlier I go to bed, the less likely I am to raid the fridge.
I suppose on the calories-in vs calories-out front, we must burn more calories while we're sleeping than while we're up late at night, usually watching tv and/or eating snacks.
8 hours. Always. When I was obese, I went to sleep at 2am, and got up at 7-8am. Not surprising when you stay up later you eat more. Between having three sons, and exercising 2 hours a day, I'm ready for sleep every single night now.
I changed my sleep schedule due to this theory this past summer/fall. Though as one person above says it still is about calories in/calories out, I found that 8+ hours of sleep changed my motivation and will power. One days that I had more than 8 hours of sleep I was less likely to cheat or make poor decisions. And when I get more than 8 hours of sleep I'm more likely to have the energy to exercise. When I don't have enough sleep, particularly less that 7, I don't plan well for meals, I make/eat whatever is quick and easy and I often feel too tired to even care about exercising. So yes, it's still calories in/calories out but the change in my attitude was a marked difference!
I was thinking about this just a few hours ago when I was feeding my baby for the 2nd time in the night. Crazy that this would be the first thing I see when I get up! I wasn't sure about everyone else, but I know that I cannot lose weight, or reach any of my other goals, as a matter of fact, when I'm this sleep deprived. It is very frustrating, but I'm very overwhelmed by it. Which of the millions of books out there about getting your baby to sleep through the night do I buy, wait for it to ship to my house, read (with 3 little ones, that could take months), and then try to apply. By the time that happens, I'll be totally looney, so I think I'll just have to pray for a miracle!!!
I've been a bad sleeper since after college (probably the reason why I've had a weight problem since going into the working world). I average about 4 hours a night, on a good night.
The last three days, I've had insomnia bouts. No sleep at all. I was aggravated about it because I knew this was a big week at work and I needed rest. My mother was an insomniac. She had a weight problem, too. But she actually made the effort and joined WW; she's been at her goal weight for at least 20 years now!!!
I'm sure I would feel better if I could just go to sleep at night. My hormones would be regular, and I wouldn't be as moody.
Original Post by: pushbuttonkittyI don't know if it actually correlates to lack of sleep, but the longer I'm up the more I eat. Whether it's for something to do or just because I get hungry more often because I'm awake longer to get hungry, I'm not sure, but I definitely notice when I'm up for more hours a day, especially when I stay up later (more so than waking up earlier) I eat a lot more!
Same here! What does that mean for us? If I wake up early and go to sleep late, I end up fitting in 2 extra small meals just to function. If I wake up late and go to sleep early, I eat much less than normally because there simply is less time.
As a life long night owl, I am finding that modifying my sleep habits are as hard or harder than monitoring my diet. with more than 100lbs to loose I realize that i must take advantage of every tip and tweak out there to create a total lifestyle change and get the weight off.
I'm not sure how this plays a role in sleep, but I have noticed that if I work out in the evening before going to bed, I wake up feeling trimmer and not "bloated". This of course is when I sleep an adequate amount of time. Now, if workout and only get say 3-4 hours of sleep I don't feel or look trimmer. I feel and look bloated for lack of a better work. I have my theories as to why this is, but would like to hear your insight if you have similar experiences. 
For me, there is simply not enough hours in a day! I work a full-time job (like many others out there) and am a single parent to a 4 year old. Trying to balance work, playtime, supper, my daughter's bedtime routine and fitting in my workout and household tasks while still try to get to bed at a decent hour is nearly IMPOSSIBLE. I average 6.5 to 7 hours per night (which is a LOT more than i used to a few years ago) but I have heard about all of the benefits of added sleep, like weight loss and better skin. That will be one of my goals this year to get that extra hour of sleep in!
Also - in reply to the comment above, I work out at night after my daughter goes to bed and I also feel tighter and trimmer when I wake up. :) I also make sure to eat something small after my workout to replenish the nutrients I used during the workout, i.e. an orange or eggs or a protein shake.
similar to rickster 777 above, i too just don't eat right/well when i'm tired, even just a little tired. my mind doesn't function right and i end up eating more or worse than i normally would if i had better sleep. i feel my weight (and of course how i feel about myself) is directly related to sleep: with enough sleep my mind is ready to roll, i'm motivated to eat right and my body is ready to workout to its fullest and be active even when i can't get a full workout in. also similar to above posts, with less hours awake there's less time to snack. we just get much more out of our day when we're well rested and ready to attack it!
As some other people have said, the more I stay up the more I tend to eat due to tiredness. Therefore to avoid this, most of the time I go to sleep. I'm generally surprised at the lack of sleep people are having these days as I have never had that problem. If anything, I sleep too much! Sleeping on average from 7-8 hours, occasionally 9 or even 10 at times!
The thing I would like to find out is, could this play any role in weight? Does sleeping too much effect your metabolism or appetite in any way at all?
What about sleeping too much? Even as a baby, I was quite a sleeper, and to this day, if left to my own devices, would sleep 10-12 hours a night! I wonder if this would have an adverse effect on weight, although I'm not trying to lose.
No wonder that after each one of children the weight has gotten harder and harder to loose. I have a 7 yr old, 4yr old, and 5 month old. As many other mom's I have to stay up late to get things done when the kids r sleeping. I get probably 5 hours each night and that's broken up because the baby still breast feeds through the night. I have noticed though the more tired I am the more I eat, and the less healthy the food.
I work full time and am a half time grad student. Last semester I had to pull a few all nighters (which I hadn't done since 21 - 30 now). It is impossible to keep my brain focused and my work done without just ignoring my diet. I drank 6 red bulls a night, and had extra meals as needed. It is extremely hard to stay focused on low sleep without extra calories.
I can totally relate to this post. I have a terrible time getting enough sleep, difficulty getting to sleep + waking up at night. The less I sleep the less will power I have and forget getting the motivation to exercise! To top it off every 5 weeks I'm on call for 1 week and that can mean pages in the middle of the night and working 10 hour days. When I'm tired I just feel sluggish so even when I do get out and walk it's at a slower pace. I have found that exercise does help me sleep. As does keeping to a wind-down routine of stopping working, computer, and TV at 9pm and reading a fiction novel for 1 hour before bed at 10pm. If I don't have to get up until 7am then even if I wake up for a while in the middle of the night I can still be OK. I cannot always keep to this rigid schedule and then I get all out of whack for several days. I just keep taking it one day at a time, and try to get back to the wind-down routine.
Since I'm a teenager, I sleep between 8-10 hours a night and I feel like I've got waaaaaay more energy, feel fitter etc and I don't binge anymore unlike a few months ago when I got between 6-8 hours of sleep.
I found that when I don't get more than 5-6 hours of sleep, I cannot function. I'm cranky, I yell, and anybody in my path is gonna catch it!! Since I've started trying to lose weight (again), I try to get more sleep (my kids go down by 9), and when I get more sleep, I'm in a better mood,and more motivated to exercise, and do more than lay in bed and watch movies.
Because my husband has undiagnosed sleep apnia, I get very little sleep. I don't sleep deeply until he gets up for work at 3:30 every morning. So I get about 3 hours of good sleep and another 3-4 hours of light dosing. I hope when he goes in for his sleep study next month I can start getting 7 or more good hours of sleep. At this point it took me 7 weeks to lose 1.5 lbs, and I've been exercising every day just about. :(
Original Post by: cinbad3178I don't really chime in on too many of these articles (although I always read them), but I felt that I should add my two cents today.
I'm starting to think that this may one of the "unkown" reasons I've not been able to lose weight! People talk about a "plateau," and what have you, but I'm pretty sure there's something wrong when this so-called plateau has been going on for 3.5 years. No joke.
My diet is impeccable (all whole foods, good carbs, good fat, protein, etc), my exercise regime would blow half of my fellow gymrats out of the water, and I'm relatively healthy otherwise. After having seen 4 nutritionists/dieticians, 3 personal trainers, 1 IFBB pro, and countless numbers of docs (endocrine, gastro, gyno, etc)...we've all come to the same conclusion: There is no scientific reason for disability to lose weight (especially for the amount of work I put into it).While everyone is still trying to help me out, I'm sort of on my own again, tring to figure out what in the world is wrong with my body! THIS may be one of the answers.
I'm totally going to try to get a little more than 6 hours of shut eye...and who knows? Maybe this will do the trick! (And positive thinking, of course
Wow - sorry that was so long! lol.
Cinbad,
Sorry to be so personal, but are you taking any birth control? I was on the Depoprovera shot for 12 years (I know, that's really bad), and I went off of it last year at the same time that I started exercising regularly (running) and eating healthfully, and I lost 25 lbs in 3-4 months. I've been able to keep it all off (plus a few extra lbs) even though I'm not as strict a runner anymore. I whole heartedly believe that 30% of my weight loss is attributed to getting off that hormone. So maybe switching up your BC (if you're taing any) would help. Good luck!
It's weird because wouldn't you think that the more hours you are awake the more calories you would burn? I am recovering from anorexia and adhere to a strict meal plan (my disorder keeps me from going over and recovery keeps me from going under). Any time I got my full meal plan in I felt like i had to stay up longer so that I'd burn more calories (plus I was busy with school and it helped me catch up with things) and ended up only sleeping about 3 hours a night. I don't know which is better weight wise, but being sleep-deprived is REALLY unhealthy. I don't recommend it.
sleep is incredibly important, it is when your body restores and repairs itself. but also, the more hours you spend sleeping - the less time you have in a day to spend eating ;)
My baby is 7mths old-I've been working out every day since she was 2mths old. I was on ww-with my 2nd child by 6mths later I was 20 lbs less. This time-nothing seems to be working-talk about unbelievably frustrating. My husband attributes it to lack of sleep because she still wakes me in the middle of the night. I hope he's right and when I get those 8hrs the lbs will start to come off-By the way, thank you all for posting your stories-I thought it was only me-your stories have encouraged me to keep going-Good luck to you all!!
I understand the frustration, I used ww as well after my second and I did loose the weight, but this time I don't find that it's working. I've been working out everyday for 2 months now and have only lost 5lbs. I'm really glad to see that I'm not alone.
Does it matter WHEN you sleep? I know a person who literally stays up all night, regularly going to bed between 3 and 4 a.m. He sleeps 7 or 8 hours, but is battling weight problems.
I lost 50 lbs in six months and I haven't been able to lose this last 10- weight hasn't budged in ten weeks. I hear the last 10 is the hardest though, so I'm trying not to get frustrated by it.
Sleep apnea is one of the main reasons I can't sleep. I don't know if any of you have gone for a sleep test, but it might be a good idea. My problem is that I can't seem to get used to the CPAP machine I should be using each night. One of the things they tell you is that you can expect to lose some weight by using the machine and getting a good night's sleep. Your body will just function better and that includes your metabolism.
My sleep is interrupted because my partner has parkinsons and can't sleep because of the shaking.. My sleep pattern is changed every hour or so. It's a very interesting subject because I have gained a lot of weight in the past few months and always wake up feeling tired. My partner gets to sleep at about 6am and then snores constantly so I have to get up with hardly any sleep. I wear an eye mask and ear plugs but it doesn't make any difference.
It is simple.You can't eat and sleep at the same time. The day after little sleep your brain is trying to get more energy. That is the weird hunger feeling. The brain isn't getting energized it from sleep so it uses the next best thing. Sometimes I will go to bed early if I find myself wanting to eat.
I agree. If I stay up late, I get hungry again. I think getting the full 8 hrs means awake less and eat less!
Original Post by: ernieilnI'm not sure how this plays a role in sleep, but I have noticed that if I work out in the evening before going to bed, I wake up feeling trimmer and not "bloated". This of course is when I sleep an adequate amount of time. Now, if workout and only get say 3-4 hours of sleep I don't feel or look trimmer. I feel and look bloated for lack of a better work. I have my theories as to why this is, but would like to hear your insight if you have similar experiences.
Well, I know that the body can build muscle at a faster rate while we are sleeping, as it is in repair mode, so it is very important to get a good nights rest if you want to build muscle, which every lb of burns about 50 calories of fat per day. So, if you feel more fit when you get adequate sleep after a good workout, it's because you are.
Dietitians have been beating us over the head with this concept repeatedly for as long as I can remember, but of course the only people who will actually be able to take their advice and get more sleep are people with easy jobs, short commutes, no daily exercise, no home-cooked dinners or no time spent with their families. Of the things I just listed, something usually has to give, and therefore go, in order for 8 hours of sleep to happen.
For many of us in the working world, the 8-hour day is a myth; we work 9-10 hrs on average, and when you add a 1-hr commute onto that it's like working a 11-12 hour day, every weekday. If you add that to 8 hours of sleep, you get 19-20 hours. This leaves 4-5 hours in which to somehow squeeze in a decent workout (2 hours when you factor in cardio, weights, and the 30 min before and after that it takes to change/warm up/cool down/shower/change again). And of course once one had driven home it's time to cook dinner, run any errands that need running, and do household chores. On top of the household chores, I have to get up so early in the morning for work that I need to allot 30 min the night before to pack a healthy lunch and get all my clothes--work and gym--together in advance. Guess how much time that leaves for leisure/family time?
Likewise, if you subtract any of the other options, you're left with either a) a dirty house, b) a weak, squishy body, because even if you eat right you didn't have time for exercise, c) bills/dishes/laundry/dog poo that have piled up...etc. Sleep is easier to cut back on. At least it doesn't smell if it's allowed to slide.
The only good solution I can see to the sleep issue is for the workday to be reduced to exactly 8 hours.
Original Post by: tamaraalicia
I keep reading about this research and so have been trying to stick to a sleep schedule which has been working wonders as I feel much much more energized I just hope when I get brave enough to get on the scale I will see some changes there too.
I think the study on sleep and higher BMI has more to do with less energy which equals less exercise .. also that .. like another poster said when you are up longer you tend to eat more (of course that isnt every person but the majority) and also that lack of sleep can cause a raise in cortisol which has been known to cause an increase in body fat and contributes to hpb and diabetes.
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I don't know if it actually correlates to lack of sleep, but the longer I'm up the more I eat. Whether it's for something to do or just because I get hungry more often because I'm awake longer to get hungry, I'm not sure, but I definitely notice when I'm up for more hours a day, especially when I stay up later (more so than waking up earlier) I eat a lot more!